La Isla Cuchifritos

Tippy canoe.

"Jíbaro" is often translated as "peasant," but in Puerto Rico the epithet is full of affection for the straightforwardness, humility, and hard work of countrymen who live off the land. The term has also attached itself to one particular product of their labors, the plantain, and dishes like jíbaro en canoa (He-bah-row en kah-No-ah; $2). This sweet, ripe "canoe" was split and top-loaded with ground beef, olives, and peppers, and swamped by my server with several complimentary ladles of "gravy" — in effect, adding a small order of potato-and-carrot stew.

A wider-angle view of the counter near the register, where I sat, would reveal where swaths of blue have been gradually worn away by staff and customers. Much diligent cooking and eating is done here.

Previously: Cuchifritos, the snacks that decorate the windows of many Puerto Rican lunch counters, are inevitably fried (frito) but may or may not entail pig (cuchí). A rellena de amarilla (ray-Yay-nah day ah-mah-Ree-yah; below; $1) wrapped a thin layer of fried ripe plantain around a filling of smashed potato and shredded meat.

La Isla Cuchifritos
6 Graham Ave. (near Broadway and Flushing Ave.), Bushwick, Brooklyn
718-417-0668

Comments

[Wilfrid]

La Isla is worth supporting - although it's relatively new it's now one of the very few surviving cuchifrito vendors on the Lower East Side. We have seen them close one by one, presumably thanks to rent hikes - Ignacio at the bottom of Avenue D, the place on Clinton which is now a pizza joint. There's a small cuchifrito counter on Avenue C still, but the genre will soon be banished to the outer boros and the Heights.

[Dave Cook]

Do note that this La Isla is in one of those "outer boros" and not in Manhattan. You may be thinking of La Isla Restaurant, on East 14th St. I've been by...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eatingintranslation/2447850960/

...and snagged an alcapurria...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eatingintranslation/2447859890/

...but somehow it didn't land on my blog.